Cody Bellinger saved the Los Angeles Dodgers with their season on life support as he crushed a game-tying three-run homer in a 6-5 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS).
World Series champions the Dodgers were facing a 3-0 deficit in the NLCS, with the Braves leading 5-2 in the eighth inning before Bellinger's intervention at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.
With Will Smith and A.J. Pollock on base, Dodgers star Bellinger crushed a Luke Jackson fastball into the right-field bleachers.
Three batters later, Mookie Betts laced a go-ahead double with Chris Taylor touching down, before Kenley Jansen closed out the come-from-behind win.
Jansen moved to outright second most MLB postseason saves with 19.
Only the 2004 Boston Red Sox have ever erased a 3-0 deficit to win a postseason series, so the Dodgers significantly revived their hopes of reaching another MLB showpiece.
The Dodgers had opened a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Corey Seager's two-run homer, but the Braves produced a four-run fourth inning, before Adam Duvall drove in Ozzie Albies in the fifth inning for his second RBI of the game to build a 5-2 advantage.
The Braves held that lead until Bellinger's intervention in the eighth inning, with the Dodgers staying in the NLCS at 2-1.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros levelled the American League Championship Series (ALCS) after a seven-run ninth inning guided them to a 9-2 rout of the Red Sox in Game 4 at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox had led 2-1 from the first inning after Xander Bogaerts' two-run inning, before Jose Altuve's game-tying home run in the eighth, which marked his 21st playoff home run, behind only Manny Ramirez (29) and Bernie Williams (22) overall.
With two out, Jason Castro hit a go-ahead double in the ninth inning, setting off a rush of runs – including Michael Brantley's three-run double. The Astros' seven-run ninth inning tied the most ever in the ninth inning of a postseason game.
Braves at Dodgers
The Dodgers will look to level the NLCS when they host the Braves on Wednesday, with Julio Urias confirmed to start on the mound for the storied Los Angeles franchise in Game 4. Elsewhere, the Red Sox and Astros will meet in Game 5 of the ALCS.
Gauff continues serene French Open progress with last-16 win over Cocciaretto
Coca Gauff showed no signs of slowing down after easing into the French Open quarter-finals for a fourth consecutive year with a straight-sets victory over Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Iga Swiatek blitzed past Anastasia Potapova in just over 40 minutes earlier on Sunday, and a wind-swept Court Philippe-Chatrier watched a similar demolition shortly after.
Gauff dropped just five points on service in a dominant first set, brushing the world number 51 to one side in a routine 25-minute opener.
Italy's Cocciaretto responded by holding her serve in the second set but had no match for the athletic Gauff, who secured another break early on to go 2-1 up.
The world number three resumed her usual domination from there on, with Cocciaretto struggling to thwart Gauff's resounding power and eventually falling to a 6-1 6-2 defeat in just over an hour.
Gauff, the US Open champion in 2023, is still yet to lose a set in Paris this year as she prepares for a last-eight meeting with Clara Tauson or Ons Jabuer.
Data Debrief: In-form Gauff on song
Cocciaretto had defeated 2023 French Open semi-finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia and big-hitting 17th-seed Liudmila Samsonova to reach this stage, with the 23-year-old impressing in the French capital.
Yet Gauff, three years younger than the Italian, could not be stopped on Philliper-Chatrier. She now has 19 wins at Roland-Garros, two more than Chris Evert managed before turning 21.
Ancelotti urges Kroos to reverse retirement decision after Champions League glory
Toni Kroos is set to leave Real Madrid as a six-time Champions League winner but Carlo Ancelotti wants the Los Blancos midfielder to reverse his retirement decision.
The Germany midfielder appears to have played the final club game of his career, signing off with European glory after a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in Saturday's final.
Kroos delivered a perfect corner-kick assist for Dani Carvajal's 74th-minute opener at Wembley Stadium before Vinicius Junior sealed Madrid's 15th crown in UEFA's top club competition.
The 34-year-old Kroos will head to Euro 2024 with Germany this month before calling time on his glittering career, though Ancelotti hopes he will change his mind.
"I'm really grateful to Kroos," Ancelotti said. "He finished at the very top, there is no way to finish higher than this.
"He had the boldness to finish it [his career] and he is a legend at this club.
"All the fans are grateful to him for his attitude, his professionalism. I've told him we are waiting for him to change his mind – we are waiting for you."
It was the sixth winning campaign for Madrid quadruple Kroos, Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal and Nacho in the Champions League.
Only Paco Gento (six) has won the European Cup/Champions League as many times among players in history.
This success will be further boosted by the expected arrival of Kylian Mbappe, who is reportedly set to join Madrid after announcing his intentions to leave Paris Saint-Germain.
Ancelotti says Los Blancos will look to new arrivals, as well as the current crop of Madrid stars, to combat Kroos' retirement.
"We have lost an important player, but we have players who can replace him and we will adapt and play a slightly different way," Ancelotti said.
"We have fantastic players and the resources to remain competitive."
Kroos' Germany face Ukraine and Greece in warm-up fixtures before opening their Euro 2024 campaign against Scotland on June 14.
Swiatek searching for French Open adaptation despite quarter-final progression
Iga Swiatek continues to dominate at the French Open, but the world number one is still learning to adapt to testing Roland-Garros conditions.
The four-time major winner coasted into the quarter-finals in Paris, hammering Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-0 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Swiatek is only the third player in the Open Era to claim 6-0 6-0 victories at Roland-Garros in consecutive years, after Gabriela Sabatini (1992-93) and Mary Pierce (1993-94)
The triumph against world number 41 Potapova lasted just over 40 minutes, with Swiatek completely "in the zone" but perplexed by challenging conditions in the French capital.
"It felt the same but I was really focused and in the zone," she said on court. "I wasn't looking at the score so I continued working on my game.
"It was pretty weird, because of the fact we played really early, we felt the temperature would be similar.
"It doesn't feel like summer in Europe. We'll see what the weather is going to be like. The forecast is not precise. We'll see and we're good at adjusting."
Swiatek remains on course for her third consecutive French Open title and fourth in five years.
She won 48 of 58 points on Sunday, and is the first woman to record victory in 18 straight matches at a major since Serena Williams won the 2014 US Open.
After taking the titles in Madrid and Rome, Swiatek also has 16 consecutive wins overall – yet she is still seeking improvements.
"I'll use my coach's experience," she added. "He's more confident than me with my strings.
"The wind bounces, I have got used to it. I have a person who was a sailor in my team so we're good with that."
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